1. Field of the Invention
The present invention, generally, relates to fluid heads used in several environments and, more particularly, to a system for cleaning these fluid heads.
With the introduction of ink jet printers, much concern has evolved over the tendency of the small holes in their print heads becoming clogged. Therefore, at first, much effort was spent on avoiding these clogs, but as the printer technology developed and as the use of a fluid head in other and different equipment, such as recorders, for example, cleaning of the fluid heads has become more necessary rather than convenient.
2. Related Background Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,296,418 to Yamazaki et al. describes printing apparatus to sense a clog automatically and to clear the nozzle by flushing with air and a solvent.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,128,690 to Nozawa describes apparatus using heat and pressure to create a liquid flow to flush foreign matter from the discharge openings.
European patent No. 0 292 779 describes a component cleaning method where internal passages of ink nozzle printing heads are cleaned by flushing with liquid; ultrasonic waves cause a vibratory cavitation in the internal passages.
Japanese patent No. 4-39055 describes the cleaning of an ink jet nozzle using jettisoned cleaning fluid against the surface of an ink jet nozzle; the wash material is accumulated in a chamber and discharged by suction pumps.
Japanese patent No. 7-329310 describes cleaning jet nozzles of a textile printing machine by placing an ultrasonic vibration plate underneath the ink jet nozzle.
Japanese patent No. 56-106868 describes a method of clearing a clogged nozzle using ultrasonic vibrations to crush or dissolve the clogged material and flush it to the outside.
IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin No. 1802, November, 1974, describes an anti-clogging ink jet chamber having an ultrasonic driver connected to it so the chamber does not have to be removed.
Now, however, these prior efforts, when used with present day apparatus, are proving to be either disappointing in their effectiveness or completely inadequate. Fluid heads used with today""s apparatus involve materially different structures.
For example, the ink discharged, in early days, was through xe2x80x9copeningsxe2x80x9d in an ink chamber. Then, technology advanced, or improved, to a point where ink was discharged through small holes.
Next, the xe2x80x9cholesxe2x80x9d were reduced to very small; then xe2x80x9ctiny holesxe2x80x9d. In many apparatus today using fluid heads, ink, or other solution, is passed through xe2x80x9corificesxe2x80x9d that measure in the thousandths of an inch and spacing between them is comparable.
Today, when a fluid head becomes clogged, methods that were completely satisfactory yesterday, are totally in-effective.
It is an important object of the present invention to provide a method of cleaning fluid heads that have become either permanently or intermittently clogged.
It is also an important object of the present invention to provide apparatus that cleans today""s fluid heads effectively at a cost that is equally attractive.
Briefly, a structure that is in accordance with the principles of the present invention includes a housing with a chamber to receive a fluid head, means to hold a fluid head within the chamber, a pump, a filter, an ultrasonic frequency vibrator, and hoses to interconnect the respective components. A method that is in accordance with the present invention involves retaining a clogged fluid head within the chamber of the housing, filling the chamber to a predetermined level with a solvent that is impervious to both the fluid head and to chamber plastic, connecting a pump with a means to filter the fluid to the chamber to move the fluid in a back-flow direction through the fluid head, and inducing vibrations in the fluid in an ultrasonic frequency range.
The above, other and further objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become clear from a perusal of the following detailed description of a presently preferred embodiment.